Role of Government

Purpose

The state's main reason for existence, is to protect and promote the common good and the general welfare of its citizenry. The state is charged with protecting its citizens from harm, whether from foreign enemies, or from internal disorders that reduce the peace and security of its people. The state will impose civil laws and public policy which supports those ends, such as laws against murder which protect the innocent from being unjustly killed. A just government will treat all citizens equally, regardless of gender, age or size.

Application to life issues

Since science has proven that the unborn is fully human, therefore it is a person with rights, and the state has a moral obligation to protect them as citizens who are already in the world. Abortion is the intentional and direct killing of an innocent human being. No abstract argument (e.g. privacy), nor emotional appeal can change this reality. Even in the case of rape, the child is innocent, having himself committed no crime. In fact, the child is a second victim along with the mother, having been conceived out of violence rather than love.

The state must step in to protect innocent human life, regardless of the varied emotional appeals used by abortion-choicers. The pro-abortion stance is an anti-equality stance.

Limits on power

There are three natural "spheres" of governance in society which may overlap in terms of joint cooperation to support one another, but which must always maintain autonomy and intrinsic freedom. They are:

The state

The family

Religion

Each has a rightful sphere of influence which must not be overpowered by the others, although it may overlap in mutually beneficial ways. The state's power is limited to matters of maintaining civil order, national defence and stewardship of the public trust including administrative functions such as building roads, managing highways, collecting and raising taxes.

The family's sphere of influence includes autonomy in the procreation and education of children and choosing the value system for the members of the family unit.

Religion's sphere of influence includes organizing its own internal structure, giving guidance on moral living and faith, performing charitable works, contributing to public policy as it pertains to the moral order and the common good.

The government cannot overstep its bounds by denying the legitimate sphere of influence for family and religion. The government must get out of the way of individuals and the church, affording each one, maximum liberty. When it does not do this, the government becomes a tyrant. The government is meant to work for the people, not the other way around.

We know the government has run afoul of its mission when it is deciding which people get to live, what we're allowed to believe, what values parents are not allowed to pass onto their children and what opinions we're not allowed to speak in public.